First Galaxy S9+ review comes from a lucky pre-order customer

The first Galaxy S9+ review is now live and it’s not from any tech publication, it’s from a lucky pre-order customer who received his unit way ahead of schedule. It’s not uncommon for Samsung’s retail or carrier partners to mistakenly ship out a unit or two of its upcoming flagship devices. We’ve seen this happen in the past as well and now it appears to have happened again. It’s quite likely that other pre-order customers in markets like the United States will start receiving their units a couple of days before the official March 16 release date.

First Galaxy S9+ review

Reddit user Pinusnigra pre-ordered the Galaxy S9+ the day Samsung started taking them in his country (Turkey) and much to his surprise, the Exynos-powered variant of the device landed on his doorstep on March 1. Samsung is offering a neat little pre-order bonus to customers in Turkey who pre-order the Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+, they will get a Gear Sport smartwatch for free. Both devices are shipped in one single box.

He doesn’t claim to be a professional reviewer in any way but his observations are what most average users will feel when they use the device for the first time. Pinusnigra touches on many aspects of the new flagship in his Galaxy S9+ review. This includes the packaging, the AKG-tuned earphones in the box, the various guides and documents that nobody reads and the finish of the device itself. He says that the Galaxy S9+ in Midnight Black has a better matte finish compared to last year’s glossy one.

For those who are wondering if the new stereo speakers live up to the hype, he says that they’re an “enormous upgrade,” with the earpiece functioning more or less like a tweeter while the main speaker completes the sound.

Commenting on the performance, he says that the device is snappy as expected. The Intelligent Scan feature is described as “fast and good but unreliable.” AR Emoji is a feature that’s going to figure prominently in Samsung’s marketing campaign for the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+. He doesn’t seem to think it works well, though, and his similar thoughts about the much-hyped Super Slow-motion video feature too.

You can read his 2000-word Galaxy S9+ review on Reddit to get a sense of what Samsung’s new flagship is all about. Don’t forget that our full Galaxy S9 review is going to be published in the near future so do check back for that as well.

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No more security updates for the 2016 Galaxy A3, Galaxy J1, and Galaxy J3

Barring Google’s own hardware devices, software updates continue to remain as the biggest drawback of the Android ecosystem. Slow updates and shorter support period have become synonymous with Android devices, particularly the mid-range and budget offerings. Even within the Android ecosystem, the experience varies vastly from one OEM to another in this aspect.

Although far from satisfactory, Samsung has a better track record than most other OEMs in updating its devices. Within Samsung, again, not all devices receive the same level of support. Samsung’s flagship smartphones may get around three years of Android updates, security updates at least, but the company’s budget and mid-range options usually hover around two years of support. Samsung seems to be sticking to this strategy for its 2016 models if we go by the new information on its website.

Monthly security updates to the Galaxy A8 (2018)

Samsung quietly updated the Android security updates page, adding and removing devices from the security updates list. As spotted by Android Police, Samsung has removed the 2016 variants of the Galaxy A3, Galaxy J1, and Galaxy J3 from the security updates page, signaling the end of support for these devices.  The changes may be on expected lines but are still disappointing nonetheless.

Samsung has also added four new devices to the Android security updates page: Galaxy A8 (2018), Galaxy A8+ (2018), Galaxy J2 (2018), and Galaxy Tab Active2. Of these, only the Galaxy A8 (2018) is placed under the monthly update list with the rest filed under the quarterly list.

Recently, Samsung has launched the Galaxy A8 Enterprise Edition promising three years of monthly security updates. The puzzling placement of the Galaxy A8 (2018) in the monthly update schedule, while the Galaxy A8+ is slotted for quarterly updates, is probably driven by that announcement. This only goes on to show the kind of inconsistency plaguing the entire Android ecosystem.

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SamMobile Firmware Update Magazine: March 5, 2018

Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly Firmware Magazine. You can think of it as your go-to resource to find out which of your Samsung devices has received a new update or if it’s going to receive a new firmware update in the near future.

To keep things interesting, we present the Firmware Magazine in new designs every week. It will always include the important details about firmware updates such as the firmware versions, device model numbers, Android OS versions and the country where said update is out already.

SamMobile Firmware Update Magazine

Keep in mind, however, that these firmware details are based on the firmware that are available in our database, and in some cases, the latest updates might not show in the same week as the full firmware files take additional time to make it to our database.

The purpose of this magazine is to bring all of that important information about firmware updates to you, the reader, in a manner that’s easy to comprehend—so even if you’re new to the world of firmware, you’ll have no trouble making sense of it all.

Click on the image below to grab the latest firmware magazine!

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Samsung organized an LED show at the Burj Khalifa to market the Galaxy S9

Samsung officially announced the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ with a strong emphasis on the camera. The new flagship devices look similar in design to their predecessors while offering many changes inside. Unlike the striking design of the Galaxy S8 duo, communicating the under-the-hood improvements in the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ require more marketing efforts from Samsung. The company seems to be doing precisely that with its advertising event at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

Samsung plans to hold similar events in other major cities

Samsung organized an extravagant LED show on the face of the iconic skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, to celebrate the launch of the Galaxy S9. Samsung is the first technology company to present an LED show at the iconic building. Samsung also set up a series of booths near the skyscraper to let the tourists and spectators who came to watch the light show experience the capabilities of the Galaxy S9 duo in person.

These booths were designed to communicate the new features of the Galaxy S9 in a fun and engaging way. The Paint Beat Box experience station allowed visitors to paint with music, creating a perfect place to try the new Super Slow-motion feature in the S9 and S9+. The Water Balloon Wall booth presented visitors a chance to test drive the Super Slow-mo feature’s automatic Motion Detection by letting visitors capture the exact moment their balloon burst and then watching the action in super slow motion.

AR emoji is one of the headline features of the Galaxy S9. So, Samsung also set up the My Avatar experience booth where visitors could transform themselves into an AR emoji and play with their animated character. For showcasing the Galaxy S9 and S9+’s low-light camera capabilities, the company set up the Seeing Through the Lights experience booth, letting visitors test the camera in a ‘mirrored room full of low illuminate lights.’

Samsung will project its Galaxy S9 and S9+ campaign on the Burj Khalifa five times from 19:57 GST on March 2 through 20:27 GST on March 3. The company is planning to hold similar Out of Home (OOH) advertising events in other major cities and at iconic landmarks, details of which are yet to be announced.

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Galaxy S9 and Galaxy A8 Enterprise Edition launched in Germany

Samsung has been launching Enterprise Edition variants of its popular smartphones to target business customers for some time now. Last year, the company released the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 Enterprise Edition models as part of the strategy.

Continuing its enterprise push, Samsung has announced the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy A8 Enterprise Edition smartphones in Germany. Other than after-sales support and enterprise-deployment software, these devices are in no way different from the consumer edition counterparts. Both the devices will come with three-year Knox Configure (Dynamic Edition) licenses and the Enterprise Firmware Over-The-Air service (E-FOTA on MDM).

Three years of monthly security updates

Samsung Knox Configure allows IT administrators to remotely configure and manage a large number of Samsung mobile devices to their requirements. They can create configuration profiles to restrict features, change settings, set company logos and business apps as an unchangeable default option, etc. IT administrators can also remotely and selectively install firmware updates with the Samsung Enterprise Firmware-Over-The-Air (E-FOTA on MDM) service. The service also allows scheduled updates to reduce service interruptions and downtime.

The Galaxy S9 Enterprise Edition will receive three years of monthly security updates and quarterly updates for the fourth year, while the Galaxy A8 Enterprise Edition is limited to monthly security updates for three years. Both phones will come with two years of manufacturer warranty. If Samsung indeed delivers as promised, these devices might appeal even to the general consumers who care about quick security updates.

The Galaxy S9 Enterprise Edition will be available in Germany from April 2018 at a price of €849 (~$1050). The Galaxy A8 Enterprise Edition is already available for the corporate customers in Germany for €499 (~$550). Samsung is launching the dual SIM variants of these phones to help users manage their private and work life better. Samsung hasn’t launched the Galaxy A8 in Germany to the public and is offering it exclusively to enterprise customers.

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Samsung reportedly expects to make less money from OLED displays in 2018

Samsung’s semiconductor and display divisions provided a significant chunk of the company’s profits last year but according to a new report, Samsung expects to make less money from OLED panel sales in 2018. Apparently, that’s because the OLED boom that the company was counting on hasn’t really materialized.

It has been reported multiple times over the past few weeks that in light of low demand for the iPhone X, Apple has halved its OLED panel orders from Samsung. This means that Samsung Display will now ship fewer OLED panels to Apple and subsequently make less money.

No smooth sailing for the OLED business

Bloomberg reports that the iPhone X didn’t sell as well as Wall Street had anticipated and that according to people familiar with the matter, Samsung is now going to ship half the units planned to Apple. The report also mentions that Samsung sees its 2018 operating profit from displays coming in short of analysts’ forecasts.

Some market analysts had predicted that Chinese vendors who are rapidly expanding their foothold in the market will switch to OLED panels and that would greatly benefit Samsung since it has a near monopoly in the small to medium-sized OLED panel market. That has yet to happen.

The people mentioned in the report claim that Samsung is committed to OLED and doesn’t feel the pressure yet to cut OLED panel prices. It’s hoping that the successful launch of the Galaxy S9 will keep things moving along in the interim while a planned foldable smartphone could provide growth in the future.

Apple is also going to launch another iPhone this year with an OLED display and while Samsung Display might win some orders, LG Display is also believed to be courting OLED panel orders from Apple.

That being said, most major Chinese vendors aren’t expected to switch to OLED this year. Manufacturers like Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo appear to be in no rush to ditch LCD in favor of OLED. That’s because they operate on thin margins as it is.

Researcher IHS Market estimates that the 5.5-inch LCD panel in the iPhone 8 Plus costs Apple $52 while the company pays $110 for the iPhone X’s 5.8-inch OLED display. Chinese manufacturers try to price out behemoths like Apple and Samsung by aggressively pricing their handsets and they’re not really in a position to make a switch to more expensive display panels. They don’t have to either, their strategy has been working, with companies like Xiaomi even coming in striking distance of Samsung’s lead in key markets.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Simon Chan rightly points out that LCD displays are “fine enough” for many users and that until the price difference between OLED and LCD remains substantial, it’s unlikely that Chinese OEMs will be willing to make a switch.

OLED panel costs will eventually come down in a couple of years but until that happens, Samsung will have to tough it out, and by then it may even have to compete with upstart OLED manufacturers in China who want a piece of the pie as well.

Samsung may have held off further investment in its OLED facilities. It was reported in June last year that the company was going to build a “super OLED factory” in South Korea as it anticipated rising demand. Samsung was going to invest $925 million in this new OLED plant but has reportedly decided against investing in the new facility due to demand uncertainties.

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Watch the Galaxy S9 camera switch aperture in this short video

One of the major highlights of the Galaxy S9 (and S9+) is a camera with variable aperture. Well, to be more precise, the camera can switch between two fixed apertures, depending on how bright or dark a scene is, which is why Samsung is calling it Dual Aperture. The Galaxy S9 also has the largest/widest aperture – f/1.5 – seen on a phone. A lower value indicates a larger aperture, which means the opening through which light enters the camera is wider. As a result, compared to the f/1.7 cameras seen on Samsung flagships until now, the Galaxy S9 can capture brighter photos in low-light situations.

Dual Aperture system enables great photos in bright and dark scenes

A wider aperture also results in shallower depth of field, enabling the camera to blur out the background to a higher degree than what a narrower aperture would allow. When things are too bright, however, a wider aperture can be detrimental, and since the Galaxy S9’s camera can go as wide as f/1.5, a dual-aperture system becomes necessary. That is why the S9 and S9+ can switch to a narrower aperture of f/2.4 when the occasion calls for it, resulting in sharper photos that aren’t as overexposed as they would be if the aperture was fixed at f/1.5.

Since the Galaxy S9 camera has a physically adjusting aperture, one can see how the lens opening becomes wider or narrower when aperture is switched between f/1.5 and f/2.4. We have had a few requests asking us to post a video showing the changing aperture, and while many of you have probably seen it in action in videos from other publications already, we have also uploaded our own for those who haven’t.

Check it out below, and watch out for our official Galaxy S9 review to see how well the Dual Aperture camera works in practice. Also check out a few super slow-motion videos taken on the Galaxy S9 and read our hands-on experience with both the S9 and S9+.

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